A Persuasive Speech In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

The speech Mark Antony gives after the death of Caesar in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is an exceptional example of a persuasive speech. In the speech Antony gives he uses several effective techniques to get the reaction he wants out of a very biased and stunned crowd. The words in the speech demonstrate logic, passive language, and emotional responses which are used to lead the crowd to hunting down Brutus and the other assasssins the killed Caesar.
Antony, in his speech, mentioned several logical examples to remind the gathered crowd of the effective and compassionate ruler Caesar was, in order to turn them in his favour. In the middle of his speech, after calling Brutus and the assassins honourable men for killing the ambitious Caesar, he …show more content…
The way Antony starts his speech is one that is all inclusive and undemanding, he suggests that the crowd listen to him instead of forcing them to. “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;” (3.2.73). Antony starts by naming people he was close with to naming all the people that could be in the crowd to make them all feel welcome to listen. Instead of demanding the crowd to listen to what he will say, he instead suggests they hear his words meaning they have then made the decision to stay and still have the freedom to leave at any time. Using emotional language and playing on the human reaction Mark Antony is able to lead the crowd by using their emotions to persuade them. “You all did love him once, not without cause: / What cause witholds you then, to mourn for him?” (3.2.102-3). At this point in his speech, Antony is using his previous words that demonstrate Caesar as a brilliant ruler and now is reminding the crowd that the things he did as a leader were good for them and they did not see any of the ambition in him that Brutus placed there. To conclude his speech Antony uses words that show a strong emotional connect with Caesar, and a strong emotional response to his murder. “ My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, / And I must pause till it come back to me.” (3.2.106-7). Using a dramatic and emotional pause to conclude his speech with, gives the crowd Antony has time to think through his words and come to their conclusions while still being able to see Mark Antony having a very understandable reaction to the death of Caesar. Driving the crowd by playing on their emotional reactions is a very clever technique that results in being compelling and